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2008 Rugby League World Cup qualifying

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2008 Rugby League World Cup qualification
Tournament details
DatesApril 2006 – November 2007
Teams14 (from 3 confederations)
Tournament statistics
Matches played9
2000
2013

2008 Rugby League World Cup qualifying matches took place from April 2006 to November 2007. Of the ten teams to compete in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup, five of them qualified based on their performance in these matches. The other five teams had qualified automatically.

Qualified teams

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6 Asian-Pacific teams qualified for the World Cup; 3 qualified automatically, with the top 2 in the Pacific qualifying group also reaching the finals. Samoa finished third in the Pacific qualifying group and earned a qualification spot by winning the repechage. 4 European teams qualified for the World Cup. 2 qualified automatically, with a further 2 finals berths for the winner of each European qualifying group. No teams from the Atlantic qualifying group reached the finals, with the USA losing at the repechage semi-final stage.

Team Method of
qualification
Date of
qualification
Finals
appearance
Last
appearance
Previous best
performance
 Australia Host N/A Final 2000 Winners (1957, 1968, 1970, 1975, 1977, 1988, 1992, 1995, 2000)
 New Zealand Automatic qualifier N/A Champions 2000 Runners-up (1988, 2000)
 Papua New Guinea Automatic qualifier N/A No 2000 Quarter-finals (2000)
 England Automatic qualifier N/A Semi Final 2000 Runners-up (1975, 1995)
 France Automatic qualifier N/A No 2000 Runners-up (1954, 1968)
 Scotland Europe Pool A winners 4 November 2007 No 2000 Group stage (2000)
 Ireland Europe Pool B winners 2 November 2007 Quarter Final 2000 Quarter-finals (2000)
 Tonga Pacific Pool winners 22 October 2006 No 2000 Group stage (1995, 2000)
 Fiji Pacific runners-up 7 October 2006 Semi Final 2000 Group stage (1995, 2000)
 Samoa Repechage winners 14 November 2007 No 2000 Quarter-finals (2000

Europe

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First round

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Team Pld W D L PF PA +/− Pts Qualification
 Russia 3 3 0 0 108 20 +88 6 Second Round
 Georgia 3 2 0 1 102 50 +52 4 Ejected from competition
 Netherlands 3 1 0 2 68 123 –55 2 Failed to qualify for World Cup
 Serbia 3 0 0 3 42 127 –85 0
28 April 2006
Netherlands 14–40 Russia
Hook of Holland
Attendance: 250
13 May 2006
Serbia 10–45 Georgia
FK Radnički Stadium, Belgrade
Attendance: 500
26 May 2006
Georgia 57–16 Netherlands
Locomotive Stadium, Tbilisi
Attendance: 10,935
4 June 2006
Serbia 6–44 Russia
FK Radnički Stadium, Belgrade
Attendance: 500
17 June 2006
Netherlands 38–26 Serbia
Rotterdamse RC Beekweg, Rotterdam
Attendance: 250
22 June 2006
Russia 24–0[note 1] Georgia

Second round

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Group A

Team Pld W D L PF PA +/− Pts Qualification
 Scotland 2 1 0 1 37 32 +5 2 Qualified for World Cup
 Wales 2 1 0 1 32 37 –5 2 Intercontinental playoff
29 October 2006
Wales 14–21 Scotland
Tries: Briers
Hughes
Johnson
Goal: Briers
Tries: Benn
Brough
Liddell
Nanyn

Goals: Morton
Nanyn

Field Goal: Brough
Brewery Field, Bridgend
Attendance: 2,378
4 November 2007
Scotland 16–18 Wales
Tries: Benn
Fisher
Goals: Brough (4/4)
Tries: Dyer
Gibson
Hughes
Goals: Harris (3/4)
Old Anniesland, Glasgow
Attendance: 911

Group B
Lebanon hosted their home fixtures in England due to the political situation in the Middle East.[1][2]

Team Pld W D L PF PA +/− Pts Qualification
 Ireland 4 2 2 0 142 64 78 6 Qualified for World Cup
 Lebanon 4 2 2 0 104 42 62 6 Interncontinental playoff
 Russia 4 0 0 4 38 178 −140 0 Failed to qualify for World Cup
22 October 2006
Russia 12–50 Ireland
Tries: Baskakov
Iliassov
Ovchinnikov
Tries: Dodd (3)
Bridge (2)
Cantillon (2)
Littler (2) Goals: Bridge (7/9)
Fili Stadium, Moscow
Attendance: 120
28 October 2006
Lebanon 22–8 Russia
New River Stadium, London
Attendance: 300
5 November 2006
Ireland 18–18 Lebanon
Tries: Grix
Littler
Tandy
Goals: Bridge (3/3)
Tries: Chiha
Koborsi
Salem
Goals: El Masri (2/2)
Salem (1/2)
Tolka Park, Dublin
Attendance: 140
27 October 2007
Russia 0–48 Lebanon
Nara Stadium, Narofominsk
Attendance: 1,426
2 November 2007
Lebanon 16–16 Ireland
Tries: Farah
Salem
Samia Goals: Nicholas (2)
Tries: Finn
Handforth
Goals: Finn (2)
Bridge (2)
Crown Flatt, Dewsbury
Attendance: 6,812

Notes:

  • Ireland's Chris Bridge kicked a penalty goal to level the scores in the 77th minute after Lebanon's captain Hassan Saleh conceded a penalty for a high tackle.[3][2]
  • Ireland qualified for the World Cup with a greater points difference than Lebanon, who progressed to the intercontinental repechage.[2]

Speculation of match-fixing

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In early 2011, Ryan Tandy and his agent Sam Ayoub were charged in relation to alleged spot-fixing offences during a 2010 National Rugby League match, prompting speculation about the legitimacy of Ireland and Lebanon's two draws. The 2006 drawn match included Tandy representing Ireland and Ayoub's son Jai Ayoub representing Lebanon.[4][5] Neither Tandy or Ayoub played in the 2007 match.[3] A police investigation in Australia was dismissed due to "jurisdictional issues."[6] Ireland coach Andy Kelly said in 2011 that he believes the games were played "openly and honestly," and that it was a coincidence both games were drawn.[5]

Pacific

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Team Pld W D L PF PA +/− Pts Qualification
 Tonga 3 2 0 1 102 54 48 4 Qualified for World Cup
 Fiji 3 2 0 1 98 62 36 4
 Samoa 3 2 0 1 86 52 34 4 Advances to the repechage round
 Cook Islands 3 0 0 3 24 142 −118 0 Failed to qualify for World Cup
29 September 2006
Tonga 56–14 Cook Islands
Campbelltown Stadium, Sydney
Attendance: 3,013
29 September 2006
Samoa 30–28 Fiji
Campbelltown Stadium, Sydney
Attendance: 3,013
4 October 2006
Fiji 30–28 Tonga
Western Weekender Stadium, Sydney
Attendance: 3,813
4 October 2006
Samoa 46–6 Cook Islands
Western Weekender Stadium, Sydney
Attendance: 3,813
7 October 2006
Fiji 40–4 Cook Islands
CUA Stadium, Penrith
Attendance: 1,713
22 October 2006
Tonga 18–10 Samoa
Headingley, Leeds
Attendance: 5,547

Other

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Originally, the USA, Japan, South Africa and West Indies were going to compete in a four-team tournament at Bernie Robbins Stadium, Atlantic City, from 21–28 October.

However, the West Indies and South Africa withdrew before the draw, and a one-off match was played between Japan and the USA.[7]

28 October 2006
United States 54–18 Japan
Aston Community Center Field, Aston
Attendance: 1,200

Repechage

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Semi-finals

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9 November 2007
United States 10–42 Samoa
Halton Stadium, Widnes
Attendance: 753

Final

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14 November 2007
Lebanon 16–38 Samoa
Post Office Road, Featherstone
Attendance: 1,323
  • Therefore, Samoa qualified for the final position at the World Cup to be held in Australia in 2008.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ The match was originally abandoned after the Georgian team had their visa applications rejected. A subsequent investigation discovered that Georgia had actually been forced to forfeit the match because their players were representing the rugby union team. Georgia were found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute, ejected from the competition and banned from RLIF events for two years; Russia were awarded the match 24–0.

References

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  1. ^ Wilson, Andy (28 October 2006). "Lebanon come to London on road to World Cup". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
  2. ^ a b c "Lebanon 16-16 Ireland". RTE. 4 November 2007. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
  3. ^ a b Hadfield, Dave (3 November 2007). "Lebanon 16 Ireland 16: Late Bridge penalty gives Ireland place in the World Cup". The Independent. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
  4. ^ Walter, Brad (5 March 2011). "World Cup qualifiers also to be investigated". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
  5. ^ a b Wilson, Andy (5 March 2011). "Ireland's draws against Lebanon dragged into betting investigation". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
  6. ^ Proszenko, Adrian (6 March 2011). "Police identify final punter". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
  7. ^ "USA Tomahawks and Japan to battle for Atlantic Cup". www.amnrl.com. Archived from the original on 9 May 2008.

Sources

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